"Suraj, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina
Wahab, appeared before the court and the court adjourned the case till next
month," said advocate Dinesh Tiwari who is appearing in the case on behalf
of Jiah's mother Rabiya.

A 447-page charge sheet was presented on court by Suburban
police on January 16 and following which the metropolitan magistrate's court in
suburban Andheri, transferred the case to the sessions court for trial.

The chargesheet included statements of witnesses and
forensic evidence reports. Accordingly there are 22 witnesses in the case,
including a doctor who helped Jiah in an abortion, a florist, a Pancholi home
servant, Jiah’s building watchman and Sooraj’s friends.

Unsatisfied with the way the case was being handled, Rabiya
Khan, Jiah’s mother had filed a petition according to which she had alleged
murder and wanted CBI to take over the probe. Rabiya had states that ‘she had
strong reasons to suspect that the probe was carried out by police in a manner
to look as if it was a suicide’. Sooraj had been arrested earlier on basis of a
six-page letter allegedly written by Jiah herself. At that time, Aditya
Pancholi had stated that his son was at another place during the time of the
suicide. Reacting to Rabia Khan’s allegations, Aditya Pancholi had said,
‘We know what Jiah’s mother is implying and why she is doing what she is doing.
Sooraj is not the scared child that he was when Jiah’s suicide toppled his
world over.’

According to the chargesheet, murder has been ruled out,
although there is an ‘abetment to suicide’ clause. Rabia Khan and Jiah’s lawyer
Dinesh Tiwari have expressed unhappiness as they expected more from the
chargesheet. According to them, The Bombay High Court had asked the police to
record Rabia’s statement and handle the case on basis of that, procuring
witness statements and evidence. However, the chargesheet does not contain
that, according to them, but only Rabia’s statement. They are planning to
approach the High Court against the chargesheet and hold a press conference on
this issue.

Although Sooraj and his father were present in court during
the filing of the chargesheet, they have not reported any statement or
reaction. Sooraj’s lawyer, Shreya Shrivastava said, ‘A copy of the chargesheet
was handed over to Sooraj in court. The matter was committed to the sessions
court and the next hearing is on February 12.’

Jiah
Khan was found hanging at her Juhu residence on June 3, 2013. She was 25 years
old at that time.